IRAQ: Professionals Made a Particular Target

The call from his mother changed Dr. Harb Zakko's life. "Someone has been calling me to open the door, saying he has something for you," his mother said.

IRAQ: It’s Hard Being a Woman

Once one of the best countries for women's rights in the Middle East, Iraq has now become a place where women fear for their lives in an increasingly fundamentalist environment.

IRAQ: Shias Too Lose Faith in Iraqi Govt

The noisy demonstration that greeted Iraqi Prime Minister Noori al-Maliki on his visit to Sadr City last week was more than just a protest. It meant that the leader of a Shia-dominated government was being rejected by an angry and influential group of Shias.

RELIGION: Headscarves Dispute Travels to Egypt

Heated disputes have arisen in Egypt over the suggestion by culture minister Farouk Hosni last week that the rising number of Egyptian women wearing the Islamic headscarf is a sign of social "regression".

MIDEAST: Moderate Seeks a Voice

Sufyan Abu Zayda has seen too many broken ceasefires and heard too many unfulfilled speeches about peace and reconciliation to allow himself to enthuse about the latest Israeli-Palestinian truce and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's call for renewed dialogue earlier this week.

IRAQ: Business Becomes a Big Casualty

Most Iraqi businesses have collapsed under the weight of U.S.-backed economic laws, the breakdown of security, lack of electricity and fuel, and the shooting inflation.

IRAQ: Hopes of a Solution Recede by the Day

The latest upsurge of violence in Iraq comes as a big blow to the slim remaining hopes of ending violence.

MIDEAST: Fragile Calm Takes Shape

After five months of trying to outlast one another, Israelis and Palestinians have agreed to stop killing each other - for now. By 6 am on Sunday morning, the last Israeli soldier had left the Gaza Strip. That was also the time at which Palestinian militants had agreed they would cease firing rockets into Israel as part of a mutual ceasefire.

ENVIRONMENT-MOROCCO: The Dust Never Settles

Ain Tizgha 50 km east of Casablanca could not hope to stop any advance from the Sahara desert. But it could - if the government helped - stop the dust that is smothering the region.

IRAQ: Death Toll Rises and Rises

The worst killings on a single day since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 sent Baghdad reeling Thursday, but they top a casualty toll that has been rising alarmingly.

IRAQ: Medical System Becomes Sickening

After three and a half years of occupation, Iraq's medical system has sunk to levels lower than seen during the economic sanctions imposed after the first Gulf war in 1990.

LEBANON: Assassination Leaves Govt Gasping

The assassination of Christian Maronite leader Pierre Gemayel does more than strike a blow to a fragile Lebanese government just trying to survive: it raises fears of sectarian violence with painful memories of a devastating 15-year civil war still fresh.

RELIGION-EGYPT: A Society Divided by the Veil

The Islamic female veil has again become a bone of contention in this country after Egypt's long-time culture minister, Farouq Hosni, joined an international chorus decrying the practice, despite the growing number of Muslim women donning the attire.

ENVIRONMENT-MIDEAST: Lebanese Waters Still Stained Black

Squally winter weather in the eastern Mediterranean poses a fresh threat to marine ecology from Lebanon to Turkey this year, due to the remnants of the oil slick caused in July when Israeli forces bombed a power plant south of Beirut..

IRAQ: Support Gathers for Sunni Leader

The arrest warrant issued last week by the Iraqi government for Sunni leader Dr. Harith al-Dhari has sent shockwaves through the government, and galvanised much of the Sunni population.

YEMEN: Al-Qaeda Resurgence Feared

Attacks by the 'al-Qaeda in Yemen' have created new worries for the government, that has close links with the U.S. administration.

IRAQ: Education Under Siege

The recent kidnapping of scores of academics in Baghdad highlights the desperate situation of the educational system in occupied Iraq.

IRAQ: Locals Accuse U.S. of Massacre in Ramadi

U.S. military tank fire killed scores of civilians in Ramadi, capital of Al-Anbar province, late Monday night, according to witnesses and doctors. Anger and frustration were evident at the hospitals and during the funerals in the following days.

IRAQ: Farmers in Dire Straits

Despite the Iraqi prime minister's optimism for the agricultural sector, the farmers who are struggling to survive tell another story.

IRAQ: Kurds Want Early Death for Saddam

As Saddam Hussein faces his second trial, this one over the killing of an estimated 180,000 Kurds in the late 1980s, people in Kurdistan are taking a particular interest whether the death sentence in the first case will be carried out before there can be a verdict in the Kurds case.

DEATH PENALTY: Abolition Still a Mere Dream in Morocco

Ambiguity among key cabinet members about capital punishment has emboldened the interior minister to crack down on abolitionist demonstrations and quashed - for now - chances of a repeal of Morocco's death penalty laws.